James Madison University JMU Scholarly Commons Masters Theses The Graduate School Spring 2013 Limited war, limited enthusiasm: Sexuality, disillusionment, survival, and the changing landscape of war culture in Korean War-era comic books and soldier iconography Joshua K. Akers James Madison University Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019 Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Akers, Joshua K., "Limited war, limited enthusiasm: Sexuality, disillusionment, survival, and the changing landscape of war culture in Korean War-era comic books and soldier iconography" (2013). Masters Theses. 128. https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/128 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the The Graduate School at JMU Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of JMU Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. “Limited War, Limited Enthusiasm: Sexuality, Disillusionment, Survival, and the Changing Landscape of War Culture in Korean War-era Comic Books and Soldier Iconography” Joshua K. Akers A thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITTY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Master of Arts History May 2013 For Ashley, whose unwavering support allowed me to persevere and complete this project, and my family who always encouraged me to pursue higher education. ii Acknowledgements In the process of completing this thesis, I would like to acknowledge the valuable assistance of my thesis director, Dr. Emily Westkaemper, who carefully read drafts and provided comments that improved and expanded my project. I am indebted to fellow professors and colleagues, with whom I had valuable conversations in graduate seminars during my time at James Madison University. I am also grateful for the timely assistance provided by the Interlibrary Loan staff that acquired numerous and obscure works for the completion of this thesis. iii Table of Contents Dedication ........................................................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ............................................................................................................................................................. v Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter One—Irrational War: Emotional Impulse and the Construction of Heroes and Cowards in Romantic War Comics ................................................................................ 23 Chapter Two—Aggravated with War and Captivated by Women: Warfare and Women in the Pacific Stars and Stripes’ Soldier-Produced Cartoons and Iconography of the Korean War .............................................................................................. 57 Chapter Three—A Rugged, Destructive War: Entertaining Comics, Realist Interpretations of the Korean War, and Reflections of Anti-War Sentiment in War Comic Books ........................................................................................................................... 98 Conclusion: “These are Stories You Should Never Have Been Allowed to Read” ............. 138 Bibliography .................................................................................................................................................... 143 iv Abstract This thesis investigates how Korean War-era comic books and soldier-produced iconography between 1950 and 1953 reflected the conflict and helped construct ideal soldier masculinities. Differentiating between romantic, soldier-produced, and realist imagery, this thesis argues that comic books—traditionally treated as low-brow children’s literature—articulated diverse and sophisticated discussions about the nature of warfare and its impact on manhood. Soldiers and artists reflected a war that came on the heels of World War II, and the disillusionment expressed in these sources reflected a broader cultural conflict between representing World War II sentimentalism and the new, limited war in Korea. This struggle resulted in contradictory presentations of soldiers and masculinity in comic books. In particular, realist narratives explored in chapter three invoked an alternative discussion of war that decoupled manhood from warfare. The anti- war rhetoric used by Entertaining Comics’ realist narratives constitutes a new phenomenon during the Korean War, and laid the foundation for subsequent anti-war critiques during the 1960s. Comic books, newspapers, film, and other media anchor this thesis, and allow the following pages to contextualize comic book imagery in broader 1950s war culture. v Introduction The early 1950s were tumultuous times in politics, domestic life, and international affairs. Although any historian must be cautious not to attribute too much to these negative aspects of the 1950s, David Halberstam contends that the 1950s were hardly a static, placid decade but the foundation of the so-called revolutionary 1960s.1 Only six months after Americans rang in the new decade, and five years since World War II, the United States intervened in another war, this time on the Korean peninsula. The Korean War resulted from the increasing Soviet-United States tension that arose after the Soviets developed their own atomic bomb, and China fell to the communist forces of Mao Tse- Tung. The North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, with the permission of the Soviet Union, invaded his southern neighbor. Then, from June 25, 1950, until July 27, 1953, the United States spearheaded the United Nations “police action” against communist forces on the peninsula. Amidst the stir of war, men and women also experienced changes in their domestic roles. After World War II, society expected women to return to the household to raise children and support their husbands.2 This differed greatly from the liberated state of “Rosie the Riveter” women who enjoyed the benefits of full-time employment and, albeit limited, day care during the war years. For men, social expectations dictated that they fulfill the paradoxical roles of breadwinner and father. That they could not effectively do both—by society’s expectation—defined the position of men in much of the decade. Sociologist Michael S. Kimmel points out that, for men, the 1950s meant 1 David Halberstam, The Fifties (New York: Ballantine Books, 1994). 2 Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1990). 2 being “temporary” about themselves, and in constant transition and uncertainty. Men were restless, always searching for some role to define themselves concretely as men.3 Americans also enjoyed comic books, a product of the post-war boom in production and consumption.4 During the early 1950s, comic books pervaded American households across the United States, and constituted reading fare for both children and adults. The items were bought, borrowed, and sold throughout the country and thus constitute a largely overlooked historical window into American culture of the period. Historians often explore film media, such as the westerns and World War II flicks that were Hollywood’s obsession during the 1940s and 1950s.5 However, Hollywood’s products did not infiltrate into the everyday life of the American home until the television became mainstream during the late 1950s and early 1960s. During the early 1950s, Americans considered the television a luxury item, and it did not proliferate in American households until manufacturers steadily lowered the price.6 Thus, the average young American’s exposure to moving pictures was confined to Saturday children’s matinees, drive-ins, and evening B-movies that targeted teenage audiences.7 Comic books also 3 Michael S. Kimmel, Manhood in America: A Cultural History (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006). 4 For more on post-war consumer culture, see: Lizabeth Cohen, A Consumers’ Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America (New York: Vintage, 2003). 5 For example, see: Steven Mintz and Randy R. Roberts, Hollywood’s America: United States History Through Its Films, 3rd ed. (New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2006); Robert Brent Toplin, Reel History: In Defense of Hollywood (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002); Garry Wills, John Wayne’s America (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1998); Richard Slotkin, Gunfighter Nation: The Myth of the Frontier in Twentieth-Century America (New York: MacMillan, 1992). 6 Stephen M. Gillon, The American Paradox: A History of the United States Since 1945 (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007). 7 During the early 1950s, movie producers targeted children and adolescents by creating low- budget B-movies that catered specifically to these audiences on Saturday. Children flocked to Saturday matinees of Tarzan and Bomba, where cheap tickets allowed access and children could sit through multiple screenings. See Blair Davis, The Battle for the Bs: 1950s Hollywood and the Birth of Low-Budget Cinema (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2012), 73-74; Historian Gary Cross argues that Saturday matinees, children’s radio, and the comic book combined during the 1950s to form an autonomous child consumption, “Children